Black Forest

[darkitysnark]

Black Forest

This is the captured scent of a cold, moonless night, lost deep within the darkest wood. Haunting and desolate, this scent evokes images of fairy tale tragedy and half-remembered nightmares. Thick, viscous pine with ambergris, black musk, juniper and cypress.

 

Got this as a generous gimp from Emu Nymph.

 

In the bottle: whoa. I'm not getting Pine but rather a sort of blend of dark woods that somehow registered as "cedar" to me, even though that's not listed as one of the notes. Go fig. It's a bracing, somewhat sharp, but good wood smell.

 

Wet/drydown: Sharp sharp omigosh ouchy sharp piney cedary juniper OUCH! Then just as suddenly it's gone. And afterward I'm wafting something that flits between warm/cool dark woods and baby powder. Like watching Little Red Riding Hood run through patches of sunlight and creepy shadow. And maybe I'm the wolf.

 

Later: Four hours later, the wafting has ended. In fact, the perfume in general seems to have been swallowed whole by my skin. On closer inspection (read: nose on wrist sniffing) I can pick up something sort of baby powdery, but with a slight musky/BO aftertwinge. This is a bearable powder, and a very interestingly morphed blend but so short lived! I'll try it one more time to see if it will last longer on me.

 

ETA: lab description as I'm the beginning of page five!

Edited September 30, 2007 by Shollin

[aedes]

Ah! Here it is! I've been looking for a pine scent I could get behind and I thought the search was fruitless until now. Before reminding myself of what's ACTUALLY in it, my impressions were pine/cypress, not too pungent or "ouch", just right, with light spices and possibly ozone. There's a dark, airy quality to it, what I thought the "lightless fir" would smell like in Nocnitsa. Then after awhile it mellows down to what I could SWEAR was myrrh, but I suppose it isn't! It's all warm and creamy.

 

Absolutely beautiful. This is my pine scent. Thank you!

[midnightmuse]

In the bottle – oh dear! ::dismay:: Sharp, pungent, but it reminds me of nail polish remover. With a hint of juniper? But I learned already never to judge a scent solely out of the bottle, so I'm not worried.

 

On my skin: it's deepening and changing to something complex and interesting... About 2 minutes in, I really do get a mental flash of being in a towering evergreen forest, at twilight. I love how BPAL fragrances can do that to you...!

 

After 5 minutes: Ah! Now I smell real, fresh-cut greenery at some splendid old-fashioned Christmas celebration, like the one in Bergman's film Fanny and Alexander. But it's not just the pine -- no. There's something mysterious beneath it, something darksome, something pagan... like the ancient Yule traditions underlying Christmas. Every time I sniff, there's a different shade of something unusual coming to the surface, and wonderful promises lurking underneath.

 

After 20 minutes: Nooo, the green is gone! It turned quite spicy for a bit, almost like a men's cologne with cinnamon, then it softened down and sweetened a lot, becoming almost powdery. It's fading strength-wise rather quickly, too. But it was lovely while it lasted.

 

I wonder if this would stay dark and green and mysterious as a room scent? I will try it.

Edited December 23, 2005 by midnightmuse

[roesmoker]

Can't believe I never reviewed this one, as it was my second BPAL love (the first was Cathedral, which I eventually tossed over in favor of Black Forest). I got this in a swap when I was a wee newbie waiting anxiously for my first Lab order. The description thrilled me and I could only hope the scent was as lovely as the writing was poetic.

 

It's all that and more. In the imp and wet the pine is way too strong, and the only phase I don't care for is the first hour. But after that it mellows into an amazing incensey-sweet combination that lasts and lasts and lasts on me - I can smell it 8 hours later. And the waft is excellent.

 

Still trying to figure out what the notes are that I love in Black Forest - I was sure it was the black musk until I tried Haunted, which didn't work on me at all. Maybe it's the ambergris, I liked that a lot in The Black Tower. Dunno about cypress, that did nothing for me in Rome.

[QueenFae]

Imagine the thickest, deepest, darkest pine forest you've ever seen, now imagine it at night. This is what Black Forest smells like. It's a very dark pine scent, shot through with various other deep woodsy notes. It's a bit on the masculine side, but lovely just the same. I don't think I'd wear it, but I may try it on the hubbie.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Ugh. Pine and juniper are so sharp together! BPAL has taught me just how much I loathe both of these notes. I dread putting this on my skin, but for the sake of my review I must press on!

But I admit my bias straight on. These notes are not my friends. Anyway, I cannot detect the musks in this blend, and while I think I may be noting some cypress, I am not familiar enough with that note to be certain.

 

On me: On the skin, the notes mellow somewhat and blend into something likeable. It is a forest, warm and slightly muggy, with black trees curling up to the sky. I picture gnarled branches, twisted and some perhaps struck with lightning, leaving the blackened plant to continue its growth. It isn't as dark as I imagined it would be - while it is still not a scent I would wear, I find it far more bearable than most 'forest' scents.

[doneyeri]

Good LORD this scent came out "cold" on me at first. Between the smell and my still wet from the shower hair, I literally found myself shivering the first few minutes I was wearing it. It starts out very bitter on me. Reminds me a lot of the spruce beer my fiance has been brewing...too bitter for me.

Thankfully it soon mellows on me to a much more warm scent. I don't know if it's the ambergris or the black musk or what, but I swear I smell something akin to sandalwood in there. Unfortunatly, after mellowing, the scent very quickly disappears on me. So very sad as, once it gets past the Arctic freezing death stage, this is a very nice scent!

[Sheila]

Oh, SWOON! This is fabulous!

 

I've had this on my wish list for a long time, and the lab graciously threw in a giftimp in my latest order. Thanks, lab! I love it.

 

In the imp: Whoo, burn-your-nostrils pine! Wow, pine pine pine!

 

On wet: Yep, that's pine all right--but it's a dark, strong pine, not the gentle pine I love in Dublin and Snow Bunny.

 

Dry: Oooh, there's the lovely, sexy musk. It really reminds me of Haunted at this stage. The pine is mostly gone, and I'm left with the mournful and deep musk. I love this on me, but I bet it would be even better on my DH.

[SeaMonkey]

This is very dark.

 

I get cyprus and pine upon first application. Its very sharp and the ambergis comes out just a little bit. Its mostly just sharp and pine. A sweetness starts to come out after a few minutes, but only on one wrist. Bizarre.

 

This is a very nice scent for those that like dark, sharp scents.

[karikazo]

Phew. *cough* Pine. Musk. Baby powder. Pine is the only one of these three that I like and musk gives me a raging headache. This is a very strong scent on me, and very dark--definitely evocative of the concept! I can see how this would be a great scent for some people. I had to wash it off.

[Neely]

Ok I had to edit this as I got a fresh imp from the lab, and that seemed to make a big difference. So you can see my old review below as a comparison.

 

In the bottle: Pine

 

Wet: pine, not Pinesol pine, but a lovely real pine.

 

Dry down: dark, almost smells like my beloved Talvikuu.

 

30 minutes: still lovely fresh pine. Still smells like Talvikuu, so much so that I am wondering if someone made the Tal formula and put it in the imp by accident.I am so happy!

 

Conclusion: This is not like what it was the first time I tried it. Not like the first time at all. I think this is a big bottle purchase. Just goes to show, scents should get a second chance if you get a fresh imp.

 

Rating 1-5, on my skin this is a 5.

 

 

 

 

This was frimp, fom a generous BPALer (Modesty Blaise, I think. LOL everyone is so nice I can't keep up)

 

In the bottle: pine, with something mossy, the cypress maybe? It is dark and black smelling.

 

Wet: PINE, not Pinesol Pine, but real Pine. It has something almost medicinal smelling to it. I think that might be the Juniper. Almost Eucalyptus like, though that is not one of the ingredients is it?

 

Dry down: Pine and medicinal zing

 

30 minutes: wtf!!!??? It went soapy, and baby powdery on me. Pine with baby powder! UGH! It must be the ambergris. I don't do well with ambergris. Stupid chemistry!

Over an hour: I smell like an old woman in a musty house. The pine has gone, the ambergris makes me smell like powder. Yucky! I am washing this off. It has great throw, which would be great if it were more like Mistletoe, not old lady.

 

Rating 1-5: with my chemistry 1 this is a swapper or a frimp for someone.

Edited August 15, 2006 by atropos

[nekhbet]

This one is wondiferous!

 

On me it starts out as a very cool, smooth, fresh scent. The pine is noticable, but is velvety and dark-- it lacks any sharpness at all to my nose. It's just clear and fresh-- like chilly night air.

 

On the drydown, the musk really begins to take over, but it is not a deep, murky musk. More cool and crystalline and sparkling with an undercurrent of heavenly sweetness that must be the ambergris. Oooohhh.. heaven!

 

I've already ordered a big bottle!

[smallvoice]

It should come as no shock to anyone, least of all me, that this one smells a bit like pine. But, damn, that is some kickass pine. In the imp, it reminds me of being outdoors on a cold night in a remote area in northern Idaho I used to visit (because I have family there), actually. While I'm not too fond of pine, generally speaking, I am keen on scent-memories.

 

Once this got on my skin? Ugh. Cheap pine tree air freshener for the car. Magnified. Magnified again. This one's off to find a loving home!

Edited January 20, 2006 by cordia

[LiberAmoris]

Black Forest on me is all kinds of black musk. That's the note that my skin loves in this blend, and it manages to even drown out the pine, juniper and cypress. The woods are in the background, so it ends up as an outdoorsy black musk on me. Not at all unpleasant, but something that I think I might like more on my boyfriend.

 

I think I might go dab a little bit of this on him right now.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I'm wary of this one, but can I resist reviewing every imp that comes my way? No, I cannot! Plus it is a very cool concept, so evocative.

 

Gaaaah, I've been attacked by a pine tree in the Black Forest! With cypress making it even sharper; they're both assaulting my nose now. I *do* catch a faint hint of juniper, but I'm too busy being mauled by pine to notice it much.

 

This is thoroughly not my sort of thing, but I still admire Beth for capturing both a true forest scent and also a chill that makes it definitely a forest at night. I love that BPAL has unique blends like this that are miles away from commercial scents.

[PurringPulsar]

Black Forest

 

In the imp: dark, sweet pine, like pine resin, and a hint of juniper.

Wet on skin: dark and forest like scents of pine and juniper, with the shadowy sweetness of black musk creeping in.

Dry on skin: whoa. Black Forest lives up to it's name, it's very dark, deep, mysterious, like a spooky forest filled with pines, there's the sharp bright juniper note, and then there's the black musk, swirling and smoky, sweet. I keep thinking of the Forbidden Forest outside Hogwarts when I smell this.

After a while: the black musk is strong now, and I think I can smell ambergris. There are still hints of pine lingering, maybe a bit of cypress, but it's mostly musk and ambergris now-sweet, deep, haunting, the scent of a magical forest…ah yes, this is ambergris, which I sometimes confuse with normal amber, but I can definitely smell it in here. There are hints of danger and shadowy mystery in this scent.

Verdict: if there was a scent that summed up the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts, it would be this. Dark, slightly sinister, swirling, enigmatic, where anything could lurk in the shadows-you are told you shouldn't explore it, but you want to, you know you want to…at first there's a big hit of pine and juniper which then gives way to smoky, sleek black musk and glistening ambergris. It does indeed bring to mind a forest on a moonless night where the shadows are more extensive and all pervading-there's hardly anything light to this scent, save the hints of piercing juniper. This scent will certainly tempt you into the woods, luring you to it's dark, shadowy, mysterious core…I really like this scent-especially the drydown. I'm not sure how much I'd wear it (I think it would be even nicer on a man) but I'm keeping the imp.

[ovxi]

Very, very sad. I wanted to love it, but it turned to air freshener on me. I'm waiting a bit to see if it changes, and I'll try it again, but as yet, not for me. I wanted to try it on my ex to see if it was just me, but reality intervened before I got around to it. Ah, well.

[storme]

In the bottle, this smells sharp and acrid, like the smell of pine needles crunching underfoot. I can't smell much of anything except pine.

 

It didn't work on my skin at all - it turned to sweet and slightly rancid baby powder, which is not the most flattering of scents. Ah well.

[medvssa]

I start loving this the moment I open the imp... Pine! hmhm, it smells like one bottle of pine eo I once had and loved. I run out of it, and the next one didn't smell at all the same! grr

 

In a moment, I start smelling other things. Other lovely trees, musk, something animal, woah I LOVE it.

It only gets better with time, melting *drools* I can't stop sniffing. This is a dark temperate evergreen forest...

 

It is exactly what I was looking for when I found bpal, would they have something that smells like a dark forest? I don't have much more to say... Just perfect!

[Rewth]

the evergreen tress start out exceptionally strong, with the musk creating an almost earthy undertone, but as it dries the trees fade a bit allowing the musk to come to the fore. Very nice in the end.

[ariansdreams]

First Sniff (in the imp): it smells like men’s cologne...but better. It’s also a very green smell.

 

Wet: It’s a very manly smell. It's almost like a sweaty man mowing the lawn. In a good way. I do immediately smell an animalistic note. The sweaty smell isn’t bad, it’s just interesting.

 

Dry: I am now smelling the “forest-like” smells that everyone else is describing. The “sweat” smell has gone away. There is a warm spicy scent in there too. Sorry for my lack of technical terms, I’m a BPAL newbie! It’s a lovely scent, but I think I am going to get a guy to try it, I don’t feel feminine enough while wearing it.

 

Overall impression: I really do like this scent, but it doesn’t leave me with a warm feeling. Actually, I think it unsettled me a bit. This is only the second BPAL that gave me an emotional reaction to smell. I think I would like to smell this on a guy, but when wearing it I have that feeling of “otherness.” If that makes any sense at all….

 

New Info: I gave this to a guy friend last night, and he tried it on...it was really amazing on him! It morphed into something more resinous than piney. I kept making him let me sniff his arm. So, if this doesn't work on you, perhaps try it on a guy friend!

Edited March 10, 2006 by ariansdreams

[Meganaut]

Black Forest starts out as strongly piney, but there are other woods present.

Once it goes on, the musk comes out and warms it up quite a bit.

The pine note really reminds me of the sap that's always leaking out of the pine trees around here. The scent is green, but not sunny and light. The name really sums up the feeling I get from it. This really smells like a forest, but the musk keeps it from being too much like a air freshener.

It lasted about four hours on.

This would probably smells equally good on a man or a woman.

 

-Karen

[themerrybaker]

This is a great winter blend and is very similar to Snow Moon – a bottle of frosty conifer snowy experiences. If I weren’t hoarding the Moon, this would definitely be a big bottle purchase. And probably WILL be a big bottle purchase when I run out of Moon.

[gangstaknitta]

Woah. Black Forest is very piney and resiny. It kind of slaps you in the face. Very masculine.

 

On my skin, it turned strait into pine-sol. It was very strong and smelled somewhat bitter. I about never got it off.

[Nekomata]

Smells piney and moist both in the bottle and on my skin. Wet it is kind of sharp but it fades to a reasonable strength pretty quickly. Suprisingly doesn't dry powdery on me but retains it's piney scent.